My bp is low and has always been that way, and my major stress didn't come on till after diagnoses.

I'm a newbie, this is my first post. Yes!!!! I had a horrible pregnancy. Day after discharge, was put back in the hospital for a bloodpatch (epidural headache) and was later diagnosed with P.R.E.S. syndrome (had barely any vision by the end of the day). Vision came back on day 3. This was the couple days after Thanksgiving. On January 3rd, woke up with complete visual distortion and double vision in both eyes (I couldn't make out anything). I called the neuro I had with the p.r.e.s. syndrome, saw opthamalogist, diagnosed with pstc. So stress? I believe it can totally trigger it. On days I feel lots of stress, I can tell by the evening/next morning I feel more pressure by my temples and my ears feel like they have water in them. Today just happens to be one of those days.....

I think that my craniofacial and neck anatomy predisposed me to this, and that my sleep apnea made it worse, and that genetic mutations set me up for a chemical trigger for it. but having IIH, I think that stress is a huge trigger for ICP to increase. since I had jaw surgery, it is less of a trigger than it used to be. not to minimize that it is still a trigger. but it was lethal before; any bit of drama and I was DONE. on the floor done. so I don't think it caused the condition, I think it makes it worse. the fact that my son and mother (who both look like me) have it indicates to me that it's a genetic thing, and probably anatomical. my daughter is fine and she looks like her dad, not me.

I don't think that stress was my initial trigger; however I think that it plays a huge role now in flare ups. My blood pressure is and always has been rather low 110/70. I know for me the type of stress seems to be important too but that may just relate to how I handle stress. Work stress, money stress, life/army stressors don't bother me, in that sense I can handle anything you can throw at me. But emotional stress (problems with kids or parents being ill) are huge triggers for me.

yes that's a very good point, emotional stress is much much more toxic than other forms of stress.

Stress surely kicks up IIH for me. One time in particular before I was diagnosed with IIH, my symptoms were so bad my docs thought I had MS at first. I was under an enormous amount of stress at that time.

My bp is normally very low...even when I'm extremely stressed. I think you may be onto something and in my case, I do see a connection. My IIH came about from severe head injuries as a child and all my life I suffered without knowing it was IIH. During an extreme and prolonged stress event, my body started screaming and after 4 years of seeing several neurologists we finally found out what it was. The opthomologist was the one who discovered exactly what was wrong and then the other physicians began to put the pieces together.

A big yes for me. My life is very stressful on a regular basis, but just prior to dx, it had gotten worse and I just remember feeling like I was just overwhelmed with what was going on. Later, after getting my stent, my head felt much better until my hubby was fired and we had a big financial problem all in the same week. IH came back with full force after that. IH has a hormonal component - they just have not identified which one yet. My guess is cortisol.